Chapter 13 - Elowen

Elowen sighed, feeling out of place as everyone got excited for the fight tonight. Truly, she wasn't against violence in all of its forms, but this just seemed stupid. But she shouldn't say anything, Delphi had managed to convince her to come along. Just to see what it's all about, although it seemed obvious what it was about. Elowen was relieved when she was told that there were restrictions in place. It gave her some peace knowing she wasn't going to see a cocky first year get curb stomped. So as the sun began to set on the Academy, Delphi met Elowen in the hallway in casual clothes.

"Why are you still wearing your uniform?" Delphi asked, moving her gaze up and down Elowens outfit.

"Didn't know I was supposed to wear casual clothes." Elowen shrugged, hoping Delphi would just leave it alone.

"No, no. You aren't going to attend wearing this stuffy school uniform, come on. You're gonna get changed." Delphi grinned, pulling Elowen towards her dorm room. Elowen felt her cheeks get warm as they entered Elowen's dorm.

"Wow, it's a lot more crowded here." Delphi commented, "Now, point me at your suitcase." She grinned and Elowen pointed at her gray one, pushed under her bed. Delphi giggled, pulling it out and opening it before frowning. "Why do you have so many pants?" She asked.

"I lived on a farm, I usually fed the animals and didn't want to get my few dresses dirty." Elowen said, shifting weight from one foot to another. Watching as Delphi quickly made different outfits from the little clothes Elowen had brought with her. Elowen watched as her green eyes landed on the only skirt Elowen had brought, a simple thing she wore to the market often. It was light green and Delphi paired it with a simple black blouse.

"Wear this." She grinned, pushing the clothes into Elowen's arms. Elowen sputtered, trying to tell Delphi to leave so she could change. "What? We're both girls." She teased and turned around after some more pleading from Elowen.

"Okay, you can look now." Elowen whispered, feeling exposed in an odd way when Delphi eyes landed on her casual clothing. Delphi hummed, looking at Elowens hair before making Elowen turn around, telling her she's gonna braid it. Feeling her cheeks burning, she tried to bring in subtle soothing breaths as Delphi braided her hair.

"There, you look really pretty." Delphi complimented, grinning as the blush on Elowen's cheeks only deepened. "Well come on, we're gonna be late if we dilly dally any longer." Grabbing Elowens wrist, she led the way to the ring where a sparring match was about to begin.

Elowen watched as the two boys got into their stances, mouth becoming agape when the second boy knocked the first down without any effort. Her eyes followed the black haired boy as he helped up his brown haired friend, giving him a pat on the back. Their eyes locked, her brown eyes meeting his amber eyes, like swirling gold. She quickly averted her gaze when Delphi elbowed her side a little. "What are you starin' at?" Delphi teased, her own eyes following the amber eyed boy. Elowen smiled before shaking her head.

A boy and girl entered the ring this time, the girl noticeably taller than the boy. Elowen looked between the two before whispering to Delphi, "She's gonna wipe him." Delphi nodded her head in agreement. Elowen was a taller girl, her height being 5'5 for only being 13 with a couple more years of growing to do. But this other girl looked like she was six foot, easily. She towered over the poor boy who practically shrunk from the intimidation.

The fight lasted a little longer than Elowen expected. Watching the boy managed to dodge a lot of the girl's attacks, even tanking a few. Elowen watched the girl's foot placement slip, and the boy noticed too. He swiped his leg under the girls, causing her to fall on her face. An echo of groans from the crowd as the boy was declared the winner. He helped his opponent up, whispering to her something Elowen couldn't hear or tell.

After a couple more matches, the two of them got bored, deciding to call it a night. "You look good, Elowen." Delphi said randomly during their walk. Elowen smiled, repressing the heat that crept up her cheeks.

"You only say that because you picked the outfit." Elowen teased, nudging Delphis shoulder. Delphi stopped walking and turned to Elowen.

"No, you really look good. Relaxed. Haven't seen you without a small scowl on her face before." Delphi said. "It suits you." Elowen rolled her eyes, pushing a stray brown strand behind her ear. Elowen smiled and thanked Delphi.

"You look good tonight too, still not sure why you went all out for a simple outing." Elowen teased, still not sure why she wanted to get herself dolled up. Walking back to their dorm, they wished each other a good night before separating. Lying in bed, Elowen thought of Delphi's smile. She tossed and turned, the sound of her giggle echoing in her mind along with what she had said to her. Did she really look relaxed? She swallowed, closing her eyes to find peace of mind. Her mind wandered to Delphi's outfit, she hadn't thought much about it in the moment. A pretty blue dress, her hair let loose at her sides. She put an arm against her eyes and let out a sigh. Why was she plagued by thoughts of her friend? Was she a friend?

"Do friends make you flustered?" Elowen asked aloud, knowing that there wouldn't be an answer. And why of all people was she thinking about Delphi like this? She groaned, annoyed by these thoughts and questions with no clear answer. She was tired and wanted to sleep, and Delphi was plaguing her mind like a locust.

Turning over one last time before sitting up. Growling, she got up and left her bed, not bothering to put on some shoes. She wasn't going to let Delphi take over her mind, she had a clear objective here, survive and find Nuri. Or at least find out what happened to Nuri. Walking outside, she could hear in the distance the crowd around the ring still yelling, letting her toes feel the grass as she walked the tulip garden. Letting the wonderful fragrance calm her nerves. She missed her mothers tea, her mother always made it for her when she couldn't sleep. Together they would sit up and talk about anything and everything. Her mother is always wondering if Elowen had any crushes and Elowen asking in retaliation about her latest unfinished project. The quiet giggles while her father slept in the other room. She missed the smell of port, the yells of the market and even the annoying crowing from the rooster. Yawning, she felt the drowsiness swallow her system. Making her way back to her dorm, she passed Delphi's dorm building, smiling. Tomorrow would be a new day, and the first weekend at Dorian.

For the first time in a week, Elowen was able to sleep in. Elowen laid blinking at the top bunk's mattress, "Why aren't I sleeping?" She muttered, glaring at nothing in particular. She wanted to sleep, so why was she awake at 6 a.m while her roommates slept soundly around her? She laid there for what felt like another 20 minutes, eyes closed in a feeble attempt to go to sleep. Eventually, she rolled out of bed, deciding to wear one of her casual clothing items. Just some simple pants with her academy shirt and made her way to the cafeteria, where she was greeted by Delphi. Elowen blinked a couple times, just to make sure she was seeing what she was. Delphi sat at a table with her hair in a ponytail, clearly unbrushed, eating a piece of toast while reading her notes from the previous day.

Grabbing some pancakes and deciding against a cinnamon roll, Elowen sat next to Delphi. "Hey, are you good?" She asked, slightly worried for her. She had never seen Delphi willingly study before, granted she hadn't known her for long but with how much complaining she did Elowen could guess what her personality long term would be like.

Delphi looked up, startled by Elowen, "Oh, yeah I'm good. Just realized that I didn't study yesterday and I couldn't sleep, so I got up to do this. And yeah, that's been it for the last hour." Delphi sighed, rubbing her eyes. Elowen gave a small smile, closing the notebook that Delphi had been staring at.

"How about you get a real breakfast, and we can study later. Okay?" Elowen said. Delphi wordlessly nodded, abandoning her cold toast for warmer food. Deciding to let Delphi ramble for today, Elowen kept silent as she rambled about anything and everything.

"So I told her to shove it." Delphi laughed, reminiscing about the time she had talked back to her mother. "She looked so offended and stomped off. Later she told me it was because I used lower class language." She sighed, "I like your accent, sometimes you forget a 'g' at the end of your 'ing's'. It's cute." Elowen blushed, she had tried hard to break herself of the habit when preparing for her vocal exam.

"Yeah? You think it's cute, darlin'?" Elowen grinned, feeling herself relax into her normal tones. Delphi blushed and nodded before taking another bite out of biscuits and gravy.

"Yeah, its unique. All my friends spoke the same." Delphi sighed, "We had a student move from another city, he would replace his r's with h's sometimes. Would say hard like hahd." Delphi giggled. Elowen smiled, resting her chin on her palm as she watched Delphi continue to talk about her classmate with an odd accent.